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Ontario’s Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy is set to table a fall fiscal update today, which will look at how the province’s books are faring as the impacts of U.S. tariffs settle in.
Bethlenfalvy made a pledge to keep the province on a path to balance earlier this week to a business audience in Toronto as he laid the foundation for the fall economic statement.
- CBC News will livestream the announcement in the player on this page starting around 1:05 p.m. ET.
The minister said the document will show Ontario’s books will be in the black by 2027-2028, which was projected in his spring budget.
But Bethlenfalvy also said in a recent speech that Ontario has a “strong fiscal foundation,” with lower costs of interest on debt giving the province more room to spend on infrastructure, tax relief and the skilled workforce.
He says the fall economic statement will have an update on what Ontario has been doing to shore up the province’s economy in the face of tariffs, including multi-billion-dollar funds to give businesses supports and tax deferrals.
Bethlenfalvy has already announced one new measure that will add costs to the provincial treasury, agreeing to match a federal to cut HST on new home purchases for first-time homebuyers. The full scope of those costs will be detailed in the plan, the government has said.
As well, changes to election rules including scrapping fixed election dates and raising the political donation limit to $5,000 are set to be in the economic statement bill.
Overall, Bethlenfalvy said Ontarians should expect the emphasis of the economic update to be on the province’s tariff response, which includes a previously announced $5-billion fund to help businesses impacted by the fees.
